February 28, 2021
Dr Ajaz Anwar talks of a huge botanical garden in Iqbal Town owned and maintained by Mian Ahmad Din, which is home to “the largest collection of local trees, some dating back to pre-partition times
— Image: Supplied
If you Google Allama Iqbal Town’s Jahanzeb Block, a botanical garden will show up. It’s unique in the whole country as it boasts the largest collection of local trees, some dating back to pre-partition times. These include mangoes, jamans, sheeshams, baeris, lasooras, sumbals, peepals and even a now near-extinct goandani.
According to local oral history, it was a huge garden owned and maintained by one Mian Ahmad Din who had made a fortune as the holder of a ration depot. It had a dedicated tubewell for which he regularly paid the electricity bill. Here he would hold regular qawwali events. When Iqbal Town was planned in the early 1970s, this garden was included in the scheme.